New Plan Heads Off Costly Foreclosures

Article Excerpt

WASHINGTON MUTUAL INC. $37 (New York symbol WM; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 864.6 million; Market cap: $32.0 billion; WSSF Rating: Average) plans to refinance adjustable-rate subprime loans for borrowers who are up-to-date with their payments, but could face problems in the near future. That cuts the risk of selling re-possessed homes in a weak real estate market. Subprime loans represent about 10% of Washington Mutual’s total loans backed by real estate. So refinancing, and in some cases writing off those loans will hurt earnings. Meanwhile, the company’s banking and credit card businesses are still doing a good job attracting new customers. Strong growth from its non-mortgage operations (90% of total revenue) should let it offset losses in the subprime market, and let it keep paying its $2.24 dividend, which yields 6.1%. Washington Mutual is a buy. buy…